Create an Amazon Web Services account - Amazon Account Management
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Create an Amazon Web Services account

These instructions are for creating an Amazon Web Services account outside of India. For creating an account in India, see Create an Amazon Web Services account with Amazon India. For creating an account that's part of an organization managed by Amazon Organizations, see Creating a member account in an organization in the Amazon Organizations User Guide.

Amazon Web Services Management Console
To create an Amazon Web Services account
  1. Open the Sign up for Amazon page.

  2. Enter the root user email address and Amazon Web Services account name, and then choose Verify email address. This will send a verification code to your specified email address.

    Important

    If this account is for a business, use a secure corporate distribution list (for example, it.admins@example.com) so that your company can retain access to the Amazon Web Services account even when an employee changes positions or leaves the company. Because the email address can be used to reset the account's root user credentials, protect access to this distribution list or address.

  3. Enter your verification code, and then choose Verify.

  4. Enter a strong password for your root user, confirm it, and then choose Continue. Amazon requires that your password meet the following conditions:

    • It must have a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 128 characters.

    • It must include a minimum of three of the following mix of character types: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and ! @ # $ % ^ & * () <> [] {} | _+-= symbols.

    • It must not be identical to your Amazon Web Services account name or email address.

  5. Choose Business or Personal. Personal accounts and business accounts have the same features and functions.

  6. Enter your company or personal information.

    Important

    For business Amazon Web Services accounts, it's a best practice to enter a company phone number rather than a number for a personal phone. Configuring the account's root user with an individual email address or a personal phone number can make your account insecure.

  7. Read and accept the Amazon Customer Agreement. Be sure that you read and understand the terms of the Amazon Customer Agreement.

  8. Choose Continue. At this point, you'll receive an email message to confirm that your Amazon Web Services account is ready to use. You can sign in to your new account by using the email address and password you provided during sign up. However, you can't use any Amazon services until you finish activating your account.

  9. Enter the information about your payment method, and then choose Verify and Continue. If you want to use a different billing address for your Amazon billing information, choose Use a new address.

    You can't proceed with the sign-up process until you add a valid payment method.

  10. Enter your country or region code from the list, and then enter a phone number where you can be reached in the next few minutes.

  11. Enter the code displayed in the CAPTCHA, and then submit.

  12. When the automated system contacts you, enter the PIN you receive and then submit.

  13. Select one of the available Amazon Web Services Support plans. For a description of the available Support plans and their benefits, see Compare Amazon Web Services Support plans.

  14. Choose Complete sign up. A confirmation page appears that indicates that your account is being activated.

  15. Check your email and spam folder for an email message that confirms your account was activated. Activation usually takes a few minutes but can sometimes take up to 24 hours.

  16. After you receive the activation message, you can sign-in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console to start using Amazon Web Services services. For general information about how to manage your account settings, see Configure your Amazon Web Services account.

Amazon CLI & SDKs

You can create member accounts in an organization that is managed by Amazon Organizations by running the CreateAccount operation while signed in to the organization's management account.

You can't create a standalone Amazon Web Services account outside of an organization by using an Amazon Command Line Interface (Amazon CLI) or Amazon API operation.